U.S. Democratic Lawmakers Urge Trump to Abandon Plan to Repeal Vehicle Emission Standards - Gasgoo Automotive Consulting

Gasgoo News - According to a Reuters report, on September 17, more than 100 Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives urged the Trump administration to abandon its plan to repeal vehicle emission standards.

In a letter obtained by Reuters, 102 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Doris Matsui, called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to abandon its goal of "rescinding all greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles and engines."

"Repealing vehicle pollution standards will hamper this growing industry, lead to the loss of thousands of high-wage U.S. jobs, and cede future leadership in the global automotive industry to China," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

In response to the above-mentioned coverage, the EPA had no comment on the report yet.

U.S. House Democratic Representatives Rick Larsen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Jerrold Nadler also signed the letter. The letter further noted: "If we abandon clean vehicle technology, the fuel, maintenance, and repair costs for the next generation of U.S. vehicles will increase significantly." It pointed out that an analysis by the EPA shows that the proposal to repeal vehicle pollution standards will cause U.S. residents to incur an additional $1.3 trillion in fuel and maintenance costs.

The Trump administration has taken actions on vehicle environmental regulations on multiple fronts. In June this year, Trump signed a disapproval resolution under the *Congressional Review Act*, prohibiting the U.S. state of California from implementing a landmark plan that requires ceasing sales of pure gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, while also banning two other vehicle-related regulations.

Also in June this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that the Biden administration, when formulating regulations, assumed that the penetration rate of electric vehicles would increase significantly, and this practice exceeded its authority. This statement paved the way for the U.S. to relax fuel economy standards.

Additionally, Trump signed a bill under which automakers will not be required to pay fines for their failure to meet fuel economy standards for 2022 model year vehicles and subsequent models.

Notably, in July this year, the EPA stated that it would revoke a long-standing conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to human health. This move will remove the legal basis for all U.S. greenhouse gas regulations, thereby ending the current restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from automobile exhaust pipes, power plants, chimneys, and other pollution sources.